Officials say more than 965,000 people attended the North Carolina State Fair this year.

Fair officials said Monday that total attendance for the year was 965,237, making the event that ended Sunday the third highest ever.

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Last year just over 1 million people attended the fair. In 2010, attendance nearly reached 1.1 million.

State Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler says officials changed access to some of the animals this year. That came after two dozen people got sick from an E. coli outbreak last year. Hand-washing stations got better lighting and larger signs. Some stations explained how to wash hands.